Inert simulant for explosive



United States Patent 3,119,705 INERT Sill/IULANT FOR EXPLOSIVE Irving L.Kintish, Bronx, N.Y., and John E. Rainier, Morris Plains, N.J.,assignors to the United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Army No Drawing. Filed Mar. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 97,703

6 Claims. (Cl. 106220) (Granted under Title 35 US. Code (1952), sec.266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by orfor the Government of the United States of America for governmentalpurposes without the payment of any royalties thereon.

The general purpose of this invention relates to new compositions foruse as simulant for explosives and based upon the use of the glycerideof 12-hydroxy stearic acid and inert fillers. The compositions simulatethe various properties of explosives except the explosive characteristicitself.

In certain circumstances of ammunition development and testing, it hasbeen the general practice to employ actual rounds of explosive toestablish various criteria for storage, handling, etc. and to determinethe extent to which temperature, humidity, etc. affect the ammunitionitem. Although the use of actual live ammunition has served suchpurpose, it leaves something to be desired with regard to theeverpresent hazard created by the explosive feature.

Those concerned with the military program of ammunition development andtesting have long recognized the need for an inert ammunition simulant.The present invention serves to fulfill this need.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to providenon-explosive simulants which can be used in the development and testingof all items of ammunition.

A further object of this invention is to provide an explosive simulantwhich can be used with relative safety for practice and trainingpurposes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter becomemore fully apparent from the following description and appended claims.

For compositions to be acceptable for use as simulants for explosives,particularly in military applications, they should conform to thefollowing requirements; namely, (1) reproduce the density and physicalproperties of the specific explosive, (2) remain stable between 65 F.and 160 F., be non-hydroscopic, and exhibit no segregation or exude whensubjected to storage in this temperature range, (3) should be non-toxic,undergo no adverse reaction when in contact with conventionalexplosives, nor exhibit any corrosive effects upon contact with metals,(4) in the molten and solidifying phases, during casting, they shouldpossess viscosity and shrinkage characteristics similar to the specificexplosive, (5) they should be readily machinable and removable from theammunition item, as for example, by steam, and (6) in melt-loading, thematerial should be pourable for a minimum time of eight hours.

Materials such as sand, gravel, oil, sawdust, paraffin, hydrocarbonwaxes, sulfur, silica, metallic salt-s, metal oxides, metals,halogenated waxes, halogenated diphenyls, halogenated diphenyl benzenes,calcined gypsum, perlite, vermiculite, Portland cement, aromatichydrocarbons, and organic acids, have been used. Although thesematerials alone or in combination, simulated the density of the specificexplosive being replaced and were relatively low in cost, they weredeficient in many of the other essential requisites previously referredto.

Accordingly, the present invention is based upon the discovery offormulating with glyceride of l2-hydroxy stearic acid and suitablefillers a novel group of nonexplosive inert materials which more closelysimulate the specific explosives than any of the heretofore knowncompositions.

The new compositions broadly described above are best illustrated by thefollowing examples:

Example I For the preparation of a composition simulating Composition B(density 1.65) for cast loading, 30 parts by weight of glycerine ofl2-hydroxy stearic acid and 5 parts by weight of wood rosin are placedin a steam jacketed kettle equipped with an agitator. The ingredientsare melted at about C. and when molten, 65 parts by weight of deadburned gypsum are slowly added with constant agitation until ahomogeneous mixture is obtained. Items of ammunition may be loadeddirectly with this molten mixture or, alternatively, may be cast into apredetermined shape and subsequently loaded. Mixes of this compositionhave been maintained for 5 days at C. while others have been allowed tosolidify and then remelted and in neither instance was there any adverseeffect or detectable change.

Parafiin and other hydrocarbon waxes as well as halogenated hydrocarbonwaxes may be substituted for the wood rosin.

Example 11 For the preparation of a composition simulating TNT for pressloading, 40 parts by weight of glyceride of 12- hydroxy stearic acid and60 parts by weight of dead burned gypsum are dry blended to a uniformmixture. Items of ammunition are loaded by placing increments of theresultant mixture, unheated, into the item and applying the desiredpressures and dwell time.

TNT simulants for press loading generally are adjusted to density valuesof TNT compositions, i.e., between 1.34 and 1.60. The resultingcompositions meet all the essential requirements for acceptableexplosive simulants and thereby permit the use of the same techniquesand equipment to case or pressioad into carriers as used with theexplosives themselves.

Although dead burned gypsum has been used as the major filler in theabove examples, such other fillers as sawdust, cork, pumice, perlite,salts, starches, resins, vermiculite, metal oxides, metals, waxes, oils,other glycerides, and lecithin as well as other suitable materials maybe employed to adjust the density of the resulting composition to anydesired value. Suitably inert metals and metallic oxides are those foundnaturally occurring, i.e., as minerals.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. An inert composition simulating a solid explosive, consistingessentially of about 30 to about 40 parts by weight of the glyceride ofl2-hydroxy stearic acid, about 60 to about 65 parts by weight of deadburned gypsum, and 0 to about 5 parts by weight of wood rosin, saidcomposition having a density substantially corresponding to that of saidexplosive.

2. An inert composition simulating TNT, consisting essentially of theglyceride of l2-hydroxy stearic acid and a filler selected from thegroup consisting of cement, gypsum, minerals composed of siliceousmaterials, metallic oxides, and metals in the free state, the saidfiller being added in amounts sufficient to provide the said compositionwith a predetermined density substantially corresponding to the densityof TNT.

3. A method for producing an inert composition simulating Composition B,which comprises the steps of mixing about 30 parts by weight of theglyceride of l2-hydroxy stearic acid and about 5 pants by weight of woodrosin, melting the mixture, heating the resulting melt to a temperatureof about 100 C. and maintaining this tempera- 3 ture while addingthereto about 65 parts by weight of dead burned gypsum, homogenizing thesaid gypsum in the said melt, and lastly, cooling.

4. A method for producing an inert simulant for a solid explosivecomposition which comprises the steps of mixing about 6 parts by weightof the glyceride of 12- hydroxy stearic acid and about 1 pant by weightof an additive selected from the group consisting of Wood rosin,hydrocarbon Waxes, and halogenated hydrocarbon waxes, melting themixture, heating the resulting melt to a temperature between about 100and 110 C and maintaining this temperature while adding thereto a fillerselected from the group consisting of cement, gypsum, minerals composedof siliceous materials, metallic oxides, and metals in the free state,the said filler being added in an amount sufficient to provide the saidcomposition with a density substantially equivalent to that of saidexplosive composition, homogenizing the said filler in the said melt,and lastly, cooling.

5. In the manufacture of explosive materials including References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,276,508 Ellis Aug.20, 1918 1,987,553 Fisher Jan. 8, 1935 2,077,094 Byers Apr. 13, 19372,251,225 Dangelmajer July 29, 1941 2,266,810 Ruben Dec. 23, 1941

1. AN INERT COMPOSITION SIMULATING A SOLID EXPOLSIVE, CONSISTINGESSENTIALLY OF ABOUT 30 TO ABOUT 40 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF THE GLYCERIDE OF12-HYDROXY STEARIC ACID, ABOUT 60 TO ABOUT 65 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF DEADBURNED GYPSUM, AND 0 TO ABOUT 5 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF WOOD ROSIN, SAIDCOMPOSITION HAVING A DENSITY SUBSTANTIALLY CORRESPONDING TO THAT OF SAIDEXPOLSIVE.